Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to pay a state visit shortly to Russia and Kazakhstan, and attend the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kazak capital of Astana before attending the G8 plus five summit in England, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing on June 21.

The spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said Hu's trip will begin June 30 through July 7. He was invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The G8 Summit Outreach Session will be held in Britain between the G8 and leaders of China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico.

On President Hu's state visit to Russia, Liu said President Hu plans to hold talks with Putin and meet with other Russian government and parliamentary leaders.

"The visit to Russia is aimed to increase bilateral political trust, deepen all-round cooperation, enhance coordination and cooperation in key international and regional issues and further upgrade the Sino-Russian strategic partnership," Liu said at a regular press briefing.

The spokesman said the two countries will also "issue a political document and sign a series of cooperative documents".

Liu did not brief the press on Hu's visit to Kazakhstan and relevant details for Hu's participation of the SCO summit meeting and the G8 plus five summit.

When asked whether Hu has planned to meet Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro on the sideline of the G8 plus five summit, Liu said he didn't have any information on that and Hu's schedule at the G8 plus five summit hasn't been finalized yet.

The G8, evolved from the G7, comprise the world's seven leading industrial powers -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- plus Russia. Traditionally, the G8 summits have been focused mainly on economic discussions and the coordination of macroeconomic policies of member countries. However, political issues have been placed high on the agenda in recent years.

In June 2003, French President Jacques Chirac invited leaders of several developing countries including China, India and Brazil to have informal dialogues with G8 leaders at the 29th G8 summit meeting in France. Hu accepted the invitation and joined the dialogue.

The SCO is an inter-governmental organization founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with an aim of enhancing confidence-building, promoting regional cooperation and security and working together for the creation of a new international political and economic order featuring democracy, justice and rationality.

The SCO summit meeting is held annually in turn in its member nations.

Source: Xinhua